Star Wars: Power Struggle Episode I: Resurgence
by The Icon of Sloth
Summary: A Star Wars fanfic that tells the story of the Rollplay Balance of Power D&D series, with several alterations (go to itmeJP on YouTube if you want to see the full series). All liscences and properties contained in this fanfic belong to their respective owners (i.e. I own/am getting jack for writing this). Hope you enjoy.
1. Prologue

**A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…**

 **Star Wars:**

 **Power Struggle**

 **A Rollplay Balance of Power Fanfic**

 **Episode I: Resurgence**

The Empire has been defeated, it's horrific battle station, the Death Star, has been destroyed by a brave band of rebels and the Galactic Emperor is dead.

The fight is far from over, however.

Imperial holdouts continue to struggle against the forces of the New Republic across the galaxy.

The war is over, the conflict between light and darkness is far from finished.

On the Outer Rim a team of rebels fight to liberate those still trapped under harsh Imperial rule…


	2. Chapter 1

Upon inspection of the desolate lands of an unknown, volcanic planet, an Imperial prison holding some of the most valuable resources for the now waning Galactic Empire continues to function at the best of its limited capabilities. The monolithic, blackened steel structure looming over the dark, ashen landscape.

A pitiful squad of five Imperial soldiers standing ever vigilant at their posts. Their once pristine, shining white armor now stained with: ugly laser burns, various asymmetrical dents, vibro scratches dug deep and coated in the ash pouring almost nonstop from the planet's enormous volcanic structures.

The squad's AT-ST making its ingrained patrol once more. Instead of this proud piece of Imperial craftsmanship standing tall and waltzing elegantly across the land, we see a hulking lump of rusted metal slogging its way across uneven terrain.

Its gears audibly groaning at the repetitiveness of their pattern along with the uneven weight of this tiered machine. And of course, standing proudly even at its weakest and most vulnerable, the oppressive red, slightly tattered banners of the Empire sway in the breeze. The Imperial cog defiantly raised against those who see it torn down.

Across this depressing reminder of how far the once glorious Empire has fallen, stands the tools of its continuing decline. A squadron of rebels – 12 strong and ever loyal to the New Republic – looming over their weak and desperate prey on top of a rocky outcropping in the cover of night.

Many of them anxious for the coming fight, and many of them merely children who haven't faced real combat in months. Their commanding officer, Po Har, stands to the side of their camp, lost in his worried thoughts. He takes the macrobinoculars away from his gray colored eyes, and looks back to his troops readying themselves.

Four loading up their blaster rifles, three prepping the only missile tube that was requisitioned to them; and his four most trusted, battle hardened soldiers doing their own assigned roles. One of them being a public relations officer with bright orange, slicked back hair and a finely trimmed beard with side stashes.

He's clad in the same black and gray, camouflaged fatigues as nearly everyone else. He goes around the camp and does what he does best for the other seven troopers. Going on and on about, "If we can blow up two Death Stars, we can do anything!" "We may not all be Luke Skywalker, but there's a Skywalker in all of us!" And all that kind of honeyed nonsense coupled with hearty handshakes and supportive pats on the back.

Following him is a woman nearly covered from head to toe. Dull purple colored armor plates protect her torso, abdomen, shoulders and biceps. The plates are purposely smeared with soot. A sheathed vibro-longsword is slinged over her right shoulder; it lightly hums with energy. Black. Connected to her dark green colored jumpsuit is a hood she always up.

Most of her pale blond hair is pushed back. A half mask covers the lower half of her face with only a bit of the scar on her right cheek peeking out underneath her right eye. Goggles with orange colored lenses are pulled down to protect her eyes from the smoke and ash.

She remains silent throughout this whole process and immediately follows him wherever he moves. As the PR officer continues his rounds, a pale skinned woman with bright blue eyes and white colored hair – wrapped in a large bun – surveys the soon-to-be battle ground alongside the Commander. She lazily swipes through the information on her datapad. Once she has what she wants from the survey, she immediately strolls towards the squad's lieutenant.

The lieutenant sits on one of their ammunition crates while adjusting the sight on his slugthrower rifle. He stops tinkering with it when he sees the white haired woman approaching. Unlike the other soldiers he's dressed in: a black, leather padded military jacket; has on black leather gloves, light brown khaki cargo pants, and black leather boots with steel toed plating.

"Whaddya got for me, B'el Sah," he asks her casually. She, on the other hand, stands attention and scrunches up when hearing her name uttered without the proper, designated rank added to it. "It's Reconnaissance officer Sah to you, Lieutenant Mateen. Remember, sir, that even though we're rebels we still address ranks accordingly."

Lieutenant Mateen rolls his eyes and sardonically replies, "Apologies 'Reconnaissance Officer Sah.' Now will you please tell me what you've learned about our 'soon-to-be friends'?" B'el Sah gives a small smile to her squadmate and gives him what she knows. "The Imperial soldiers here are only seven strong with the addition of the AT-ST piloted by two of said seven. The remaining five move within one group of two and another in three. They patrol within these boundaries" – B'el Sah hands him her datapad and points – "and switch positions every hour."

"The AT-ST has its own scheduled route that goes in a 180 degree angle of the prison's entrance and sides. Sense the fortress itself is firmly lodged within a mountain with no other way in, the front entrance is all they need to worry over. I can't say for certain how much opposition is within the prison itself, but as far as the front defenses are concerned, with some careful planning and luck, our forces will be sufficient enough to deal with them."

Lieutenant Mateen loads a long metal slug into the opening slot of his rifle, slides it into place and presses the lock. Afterwards he looks up at B'el Sah and motions to where the other troops are, "And you think those whelps will be ready?" B'el Sah thinks carefully on what to say as the lieutenant clicks the rifle's safety on, begins disassembly and stores the weapon in its bag. "Public Relations Officer Tallon will make sure they're ready, sir."

The lieutenant sighed before standing up, slinging the rifle bag's strap diagonally over his torso, and wiping the sweat off his forehead with his left hand; briefly combing through his dark brown, wavy, shoulder length hair. "If you say so, ma'am." "I know so, lieutenant," B'el Sah says with cold certainty, "Officer Tallon is persuasive enough, and you" – she pauses to look at the discolored vertical scar on his neck – "are like a hero to them. It will be quite easy."

Lieutenant Mateen grunts at B'el Sah's words, "Only idiots look up to another soldier who's just doing his job." "True, but they don't need to know that, sir," she replies before walking back to Commander Po Har. The lieutenant begins looking through his macrobinoculars to assess what B'el Sah had told him and making sure there won't be any surprises.

All while hushed whispers about him and his 'impressive record' in the rebellion are being said from the other seven troopers. The lieutenant does his best to block their pointless hero worship out of his thoughts as well as officer Tallon's speeches. 'No half measures,' he says inwardly to get into a proper mindset for the battle, 'No half measures.'

As B'el Sah returns to Commander Po Har's side, the older man puts down his macrobinoculars and looks over at her direction. His eyes are filled with grim anxiousness. He sighs before looking back at the prison, "There it is. Imperial prison depot 424." He briefly looks around the charred, molten landscape of the planet they're on.

"This place is hell, but that… that's far worse." He looks down on the ground with a saddened expression etched into his dark skinned face. "It's disgusting that in this day and age groups like the Empire still cling to slave labor." He pulls up the macrobinoculars to catch a glimpse of the AT-ST.

Without moving his gaze he tells B'el Sah, "Pretty heavy armament on the outside" – he looks over his shoulder; eyeing everyone's weapons, then looks back to B'el Sah – "You think full frontal assault's gonna cut it, Officer Sah?" The commander looks over to his men once more with worry in his aged eyes.

B'el Sah answwers bluntly, "It won't, sir." He nods, "Well… we do have a heavy armament of our own. If we can get on that AT-ST quickly then, maybe... there'll only be five Stormtroopers left over. W-we should be well enough to clear them out but… well I'm not sure. Our men are frightened and… even though our intelligence says this place has more or less been abandoned" – he strokes the bottom half of his face; his calloused hands brushing past his bushy white mustache – "I just don't know. What if there's more of them inside – too much for us to handle?"

The commander stews in his train of thought, and B'el Sah carefully thinks over what her next words will be. Officer Tallon, and the woman following, approach the commander from his left. The PR officer playfully pats him on the shoulder, "What are you feeling, commander?" Commander Po Har looks at him and then at the prison's entrance, "We have to get in there."

"I mean if we don't…" Po Har scowls a bit from the reminder of why they're here. He sighs, "We have orders from high command to free those slaves, and… and I… I just wish we were better equipped. Who knows what's inside?" His gaze moves nervously back at the AT-ST, "I just… I've got a bad feeling about all this."

Officer Tallon nods and then has a look of realization masking over his features, "I've just had an idea commander." Commander Po Har gives him his attention, "I'm listening Officer Tallon." The officer continues with great enthusiasm, "What if we staged a three pronged assault? We'll call it 'Operation Pitchfork'!" B'el Sah chimes in, trying her hardest to ignore the ridiculous name, "We could have an artillery team against the AT-ST – distracting it whilst the rest of the squad charges in."

"But we could also have a team that distracts as many of the Stormtroopers; long enough for the rest of the squad to come into range and take them by surprise," Officer Tallon interjects. B'el Sah nods, "A distraction group, an artillery group and a core assault group. If done right we could greatly minimize casualties on our side through this. What say you, commander?"

The commander nods with a reassured expression, "Seems simple enough. Now we just need to assign who to where." Lieutenant Mateen overhears all of this and joins the conversation. "I'll be artillery with a guard and an assisting mechanic… if you'd permit me commander." Commander Po Har responds inquisitively, "Do you know how to use a missile tube, lieutenant?"

"Better than whatever infant you have currently operating it, sir," Lieutenant Mateen says deadpan. Po Har thinks it over before saying, "Tell Private Wex he won't be needed on the missile tube; he can join the core group." Officer Tallon speaks up once again, "So we'll have Mateen who'll man the missile tube; Lana" – he gestures to the silent woman next to him – "and I will form the distraction unit and try to lure in as many as possible. All while you, sir, and B'el Sah" – she glares at him for doing the same disregard for 'certain' ranks like the lieutenant – "go off and lead everyone else on a frontal assault towards the door."

Shortly after the group discusses their battle plan, the technician for the missile tube, Wex, overheard the part where the lieutenant mans the missile tube instead of him. He looks over to the lieutenant and back to the commander, "W-whaddya mean give the missile tube to him, Commander, sir? W-we-we've been training for this mission! How do I even know he's gonna be able to shoot this straight?"

The lieutenant walks over to where the missile tube is being set up and loaded, his gaze fixed on the younger man who spoke up. "Kid, how many of those have you fired," he questions while resting his hand on the missile tube. The young trooper shakes his head, "I-I-I-I've been in 16 combat missions… simulated…" Lieutenant Mateen begins to tighten his grip on the missile tube and starts pulling it away from the technician, "Boy, back on Hoth I fired six of these while under heavy fire. And every missile hit their mark."

One of the workers on the missile tube's eyes go wide and his jaw opens in awe. Before they could say anything, the woman called Lana stepped away from Officer Tallon's side. She goes over to the Wex's position and places a fingerless gloved hand on his shoulder, "Let it go." She says before gently pushing him out of the way and taking her place back at Officer Tallon's side.

As the lieutenant takes the missile tube without any more protest, he turns back to the group and points to the other two troopers next to Wex, "You two, with me. Grab the needed supplies." Before they joined him one of them whispers to the technician, "See, I told you he was on Hoth," and then runs over to the lieutenant's side.

The two of them then converse and debate amongst themselves about the lieutenant's career as they wait for the okay to move out. Officer Tallon walks over to the Lieutenant Mateen, pats him on the back and jokingly says, "If Ewoks can do it, you certainly can." He leaves while the lieutenant gives him a glare that feels like he's staring into the PR officer's very soul. The troopers next to him wisely choose not to even chuckle. B'el Sah smirks at Officer Tallon's remark while finishing up whatever's left on her datapad, and Lana snickers beside the PR officer.

After the group agrees on where the artillery and distraction units position themselves; Officer Tallon clears his throat, "If I could have everyone's attention." Lana can feel one of the officer's 'famous' speeches coming and her eyes start glazing over in response. Lieutenant Mateen rolls his eyes for what's about to happen, hands over the missile tube to one of his soldiers, and walks over to Lana.

He whispers to her, "You think he's gonna go with 'that one'?" She leans over and whispers back, "Naw, I think he's gonna go with the 'other one.' You know, the other one he usually does. I think he'll go with that one." "Wanna bet," the lieutenant asks. Lana looks up at him, her facial expressions completely masked, "Five credits says he'll do his usual." Lieutenant Mateen smirks at her, "Five credits says he doesn't."

The two look on as Officer Tallon addresses the squad, "From the snowy fields of Hoth, to the forest jungles of Endor… let it be known this day…" As he begins to drum up the crowd, Lana grunts to herself and leans over to Lieutenant Mateen. "You were right," she grimaces as she slides him his winnings. The lieutenant chuckles and returns to his group.

He takes back the missile tube and familiarizes himself with its systems as the PR officer drones on. He continues with increased fervor, "… This isn't about us, but the Rebellion, the New Republic and the slaves inside this facility! By freeing just them we are changing the face of the galaxy ever so slightly to a brighter tomorrow! And should you die here this day, your name and the lists of your brave deeds shall echo throughout the galaxy forever! May the Force be with us!"

As his speech ends the entire crowd begins cheering as softly as they can to not alert their enemies. Shortly after, Commander Po Har orders all troops to have their comm-links pinned to next to their uniforms' collars for ease of use. Lana and B'el Sah sigh in relief that the speech is over, and Lieutenant Mateen begins moving once it ends.

His mind drifts off to when he heard Officer Tallon's speech before. It was on the first successful mission they did together where a shot he made was crucial to the plan. "No half measures," he mutters to himself as he and his team come closer to the right side of the prison. Commander Po Har comms to everyone (low volume) that the signal for the distraction unit will be the firing of the missile tube. Once the distraction team is active the core group will begin their advancement towards the prison. Everyone agrees to this and Officer Tallon and Lana move into flanking position on the prison's left.

The darkness, smoke and raised terrain served well as cover and camouflage from the Stormtrooper patrols. However, one of the lieutenant's teammates tripped on a loose bit of rock before diving back into cover. This causes a lot of unwanted noise and receiving the attention of one of the Stormtroopers.

He goes over to his patrol partner and points to where the noise originated. The second Stormtrooper comms to the AT-ST about what they heard and guides it to a rough estimate of the artillery team's location. When the lieutenant peaks over and begins lining up the shot, he sees the AT-ST coming around their position. He mutters to himself, "Aw shit…" Lieutenant Mateen keeps the sight on the imperial walker while backing away to different cover and quickly tells the others, "Move, now."

As Officer Tallon and Lana reach position they notice that the AT-ST is no longer following its scheduled route. B'el Sah and Commander Po Har see this happening too and B'el Sah quickly comm the distraction unit. "Change of plans; the lieutenant's in trouble." Lana looks over to her teammate, waiting for his orders.

Officer Tallon pulls out his blaster pistol, and jumps out of the pile of basalt he was taking cover behind. He shouts at the top of his lungs, "For the New Republic!" The PR officer fires haphazardly at the closest Stormtrooper to help assist in the distraction. He moves further downhill and takes cover before the Stormtroopers reorganize themselves. Lana follows suit and takes cover on the PR officer's left.

Lieutenant Mateen hears the hammy shrill of his comrade and grits his teeth. 'Not now! I haven't fired yet,' he screams inwardly while still hiding from the AT-ST. One of the more anxious troopers of the core team blurts out, "They're distracted now! We should get in there and…" B'el Sah coldly glares back at the trooper and sternly says to him, "Do you want to die?" He stops and gulps, "N-no ma'am." "Then shut up," she returns to her macrobinoculars and he doesn't say another word.

Lieutenant Mateen readjusts his targeting sight and steps out of cover. He takes aim at the detriment of getting within the imperial walker's line of sight. The lieutenant's vision begins to blur everything that isn't the walker out of his field of vision. Time feels like it has slowed to a crawl. All he can hear is his heart beginning to race loudly in his ears. He steadies his breathing and closes his eyes. "Please," he says so softly only he can hear it. He inhales and exhales one more time before pulling the trigger.


	3. Chapter 2

The Lieutenant opens his eyes and sees the rocket plummeting on the AT-ST's front, severely damaging the medium blaster cannons. The walker staggers in surprise, fire and sparks spew out ceaselessly from the fresh wound. Its gears groan in pain and strain as they try to help restore balance. Lieutenant Mateen sighs in relief, softly saying underneath his breath, "Thank you." He picks himself back up, despite the sudden spike of fatigue, and runs towards the farthest cover with missile tube in hand.

His teammates quickly follow suite with missiles and cleaning fluid in hand as the AT-ST frantically uses its remaining blaster cannon on its right side to fire at their small silhouettes. All it hits is charred, blackened debris and a hidden gas vent. This causes a large cloud of smoke to pour out, giving the rebels even more cover against the tired mechanical beast. B'el Sah brings out her blaster pistol and the commander motions to the other soldiers. "Stay low, follow us and wait of my signal."

As the chaos ensues, the two Stormtrooper groups combine as one, take cover and unleash laser fire on Officer Tallon's position. The PR officer ducks further down to avoid their suppressing fire. Lana is practically invisible to them and she plans to take advantage of that on Officer Tallon's order.

As B'el Sah and the core team move further to the entrance, she sees an exposed power conduit. She halts the group and looks back at her datapad and from what the schematic shows that's the prison's geothermal conduit. She goes over to Commander Po Har, "Commander, I've found a strategic weak spot on the prison's walls." "Show me," he responds. She gives him the datapad and shows him the conduit's place on the schematic.

Then points to where it currently is and its state: rusted, unkempt, unshielded, and 45 meters behind the five imperial soldiers. "Sir, I suggest while the Stormtrooper squads are still distracted we take this conduit out. The facility's main functions will cease to have power, and any opposition inside will be forced to come out." Commander Po Har nods in agreement and gives her the go.

B'el Sah coordinates with the rest of the core team where to concentrate their fire on when they advance further. Once they're in position, the commander gives the signal and they open fire on the conduit. And to the reconnaissance officer's amazement… every single shot misses. Commander Po Har gives a deep sigh and motions the group to go into a dash towards the door before the Stormtroopers realize they're there. "We'll just have to risk it," he groans to himself.

The troops follow and don't look at B'el Sah's general direction out of sheer embarrassment. They go on as if nothing had happened. B'el Sah face palms and mutters to herself, "More hopeless than Stormtroopers," and goes into a sprint to catch up to the core team. Luckily for them the Stormtroopers are still preoccupied with the distraction team's direction to notice their presence.

During this, Officer Tallon's cover is getting riddled with blaster fire to where he is crouched as low as he possibly can. Lana looks over to the PR officer, short comms him and says, "I'm going in." She takes the metal scabbard off her shoulder and unsheathes her vibro-longsword. After discarding the sheath she vaults over the volcanic rocks she hid behind, and charging at them from their right. Her blade hums and blurs violently from its concentrated kinetic energy. She drags the sword down on the ground; it tears into the smoldering earth before she brings it up for a diagonal slice. The first Stormtrooper within her range gets cut in two uneven halves.

Armor pieces, blood and electrical sparks flying everywhere mixed with a piercing scream. Before the Stormtrooper next to him could fully react, she decapitates him. Once she gets the remaining three's attention, she instantly moves into a defensive stance. The blood on her blade soon evaporates with a sizzling sound. The remaining three Stormtroopers stare in horror by the unexpected, close quarters attack. "What the hell!? Fall back! Get the AT-ST!" They shout hysterically when backing away from the grisly sight Lana had created. Their blaster rifles shakily aimed towards her.

To add more to the chaos, Officer Tallon dives out of what little cover he has left; he picks up Lana's scabbard, and fires another shot before sliding into cover again. The blaster bolt whizzes past Lana's head and nearly hits a Stormtrooper's right greave. Lana turns and glares at the PR officer when he quickly looks back up and sees his shot did nothing but nearly kills his ally. He just gives her an apologetic shrug before going back behind cover and she refocuses her attention back on her prey.

"All set, Lieutenant," said one of the lieutenant Mateen's teammates after they prepped the missile tube. He nods and looks over their current cover with missile tube in hand. The AT-ST's silhouette cautiously makes its way through the blinding smoke as he readies another shot. As that's going on, the remaining Stormtroopers took the distraction Lana's ally made in order to fall back. They are soon greeted by the rest of the rebel squadron. Lana begins chasing down the Stormtrooper nearest to her, shouting, "Not so fast!"

Lieutenant Mateen fires immediately when the smoke dissipates. The missile crashes into the walker's right side, almost hitting the remaining blaster cannon, and nearly causing it to trip on the uneven, rocky terrain. The lieutenant quickly motions for his fellow troops to now follow him, this time to the back of the walker. As the AT-ST finally regains its footing, the comms inside its cockpit flare up, "There's rebels at the door! They're surrounding us! We need assistance!" The pilot and gunner start arguing with each other on where to put their attention towards.

Lana closes in on the Stormtrooper farthest away from the others; he lays down suppressive fire at her but she dodges his shots effortlessly. When close enough the swordswoman does a downward strike on the hapless soldier. He tries blocking it with his blaster rifle. Her sword slices through it with little resistance, but the blade didn't connect to its intended target. The Stormtrooper quickly raised his right bracer up to soak the hit, nearly slicing his forearm in half, and sending shocks throughout his body. The trooper falls to the floor screaming in pain and frantically tries moving his seizuring legs to crawl away from Lana.

She was about to give the finishing strike before Officer Tallon runs in. He tosses her sword's sheath to the side and shakes her shoulder to get her attention. She turns her head and he says while pointing at the other two Stormtroopers, "Don't bother; chase the others down; I'll take care of this one."

Lana reluctantly nods and runs towards the last two Stormtroopers. She also comms in Officer Tallon to sarcastically say, "Nice shot by the way." Officer Tallon ignores her jab and focuses his attention on the injured Stormtrooper. He points the blaster pistol to his helmet, "Now, would you kindly answer some questions for me?" The trooper raises his working hand in defeat and nods.

Back at the prison doors, the last two Stormtroopers have just come into contact with the rebel squad. B'el Sah immediately starts working on slicing the console and orders the troopers to open fire. They hesitate briefly and look over to the reconnaissance officer. "B-but ma'am, L-Lana's… and Officer Tallon are right behind them." B'el Sah pauses and looks squarely at the troops with the most intimidating gaze they've seen from her, "Then don't miss," she says with frightening authority.

"Y-yes, ma'am," one of them says nervously. One of the troopers gulps and some of them begin sweating more profusely as they all form up. The commander raises his hand and tells them to wait until they're in close enough range. The imperial soldiers fire a few shots while still running but they hit nothing. As soon as Lana is out of their line of sight he shouts, "Open fire!" Blaster bolts rain down on the remaining two Stormtroopers and they crumple to the ground with little resistance.

Just as the rebels opened fire on the remaining imperial troops, the AT-ST's copilot has the walker's grenade launcher fire off a concussion grenade at the squad. The grenade lands in the middle of them and someone quickly shouts, "Grenade! Hit the deck!" One trooper throws himself on top of the grenade as everyone else disperse and it blows through his chest – slightly muffling the still deafening sound. The blast sends him flying and he plummets backwards towards the blackened earth. The rest of the squad are hit with debris and shards of metal and bone, but no serious wounds were received.

As everyone picks themselves up and reorganize, Officer Tallon helps the surrendering Stormtrooper up and escorts him to the prison doors. His blaster pistol only centimeters away from the soldier's back as he cradles his broken forearm. Lana assesses that the situation is somewhat under control: she gets her scabbard from where Officer Tallon placed it, sheathes her sword, and slings it back over her shoulder.

She makes her way back to the prison's doors and B'el Sah orders the rebels to clear the way for her. Lana brushes her fingers over the console's keyboard and faint glimpses of imperial officers and Stormtroopers entering the repeated entry code enter her mind. She punches in the code and seconds later the red light next to the doors beeps and changes to green. The doors begin to slide open with a loud, grating creak. Both the commander and B'el Sah shout to the troops, "Everyone in! Hustle, hustle! Let's go! Let's go!" B'el Sah stops to look over at Lana with a small smile and her normally harsh gaze softens, "Excellent work, bounty hunter." Officer Tallon hands off the prisoner over to one of the other soldiers and stands next to Lana.

Lieutenant Mateen had his support move to opposite positions and lay out suppressing fire to redirect the walker's attention after they saw the grenade fly. All while he readies another shot. The walker suddenly stops all activity and the hatch pops open with the pilot waving his hat in the air.

"We surrender! Please, stop firing," the man shouts as he slowly exits out of the walker with his arms raised. Lieutenant Mateen's support move out of their hiding spots and comms him, "I think they've surrendered, sir." The lieutenant stands up and leans the missile tube on a raised bit of rock and basalt. He takes out his macrobinoculars and sees the pilot and copilot getting out of the AT-ST – the copilot throwing her helmet aside. He says without any emotion, "Understood," before putting away the binoculars, gets the missile tube back up and aims.


	4. Chapter 3

Lieutenant Mateen actives the missile's guidance system and pretends to shoot a warning shot at the pilot. The man ducks and gasps in horror, "We understand! You've made your point very clear! We promise! No tricks!" Lana sees what the lieutenant did and knows he would never miss such a clear shot.

She immediately sprints to the AT-ST, blaster pistol in hand. The bounty hunter repeatedly shouts at the top of her lungs for them to quickly get off the AT-ST. The imperial troops comply and begin climbing down as hastily and carefully as they can. The missile momentarily stops mid-flight, the guidance system turns it towards the direction of the AT-ST whilst falling. The missile immediately fires back up in full speed towards the upper right of the walker's front.

Meanwhile, the two imperial troopers safely dismount from the walker. Just in time before the missile grazes the top of the walker and slams into the ground roughly 20 meters away from them. Debris, ash and dirt fly everywhere as the rocket explodes. The two imperial officers duck and cover their heads upon the explosion.

Shortly after, Lana makes it to their location and points her blaster pistol at the imperial officers. Lieutenant Mateen sighs and tosses the missile tube aside. His team surrounds the soldiers alongside Lana. He walks up to them and stares at both Lana and the imperials.

"Tie them up," is all he says before turning around and heading towards the prison. Lana holsters her blaster and takes out her binds as the two rebels keep their rifles on the imperials. She takes their blasters and toss them aside before binding the copilot first. Flashes of the pistols being used only in training exercises and simulations pass by in her mind's eye. Once Lieutenant Mateen is at the entrance, he leans over to Officer Tallon and says to him, "You need to keep your dog in check."

He then enters the prison while Officer Tallon stays at the entrance with no emotional or facial reaction to the lieutenant's words. After Lana ties up the copilot, she moves over to the other soldier who starts to speak. "Ah, thank goodness you're here! W-we-we were going to surrender to the New Republic the very next day! It's been horrible here on this terrible planet..."

Before he could continue his sniveling, Lana finishes tying him up and shoves her boot on his back. Making him face the coal and ash laden ground. Afterwards, he annoyingly responds with, "Mph, yes. Yes, this is fair treatment. I-I'm sorry, we're j-just… just horrible, awful people. And… do whatever you think is appropriate. Thank you for sparing us."

Lana shoves her boot to the back of his head and applies pressure. She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, "Shut up." One of the rebel troops leans to the other and whispers, "Can ya grovel any harder?" Lana pulls out her blaster pistol and sets it to stun just in case. "Y-yes, yes. Shutting up, ma'am. Sorry, I just… y-yes." The imperial pilot says whilst a trickle of fresh lava erupts out from the ground and slithers towards his face. He hastily starts blowing on it in the hope that'll cool down before it reaches him.

Lana sighs and pulls him back up by the back of his collar, "Ah, yes. Thank you. Um, sorry… quiet now." She takes the butt of her pistol and smacks it across the right side of his head in the hopes of it finally shutting him up. The copilot next to the imperial officer glares at him and shakes her head.

Lana's comm-link beeps and she answers it, hearing Officer Tallon's voice, "Need I inform you once again, Lana, that we are not the Empire. We are the New Republic, dear, and we do not treat people like that. Get them back on their feet and we'll put them where they belong – in a cell."

Lana looks at her gun and back to the entrance where Officer Tallon is patiently waiting, "But its set to stun." She answers back a bit confused while motioning for the troopers to get their prisoners moving. As the rebels, Lana and their new prisoners reach Officer Tallon, the copilot sneers vehemently at him. He only responds with a smile.

When the squad enters the imperial prison, they see a long gangplank that leads into all of the 30 stories worth of cell blocks embedded into the mountain's sides. The entire place feels as though it has been deserted for months, if not years; aside from their recent prisoner, there's no signs of any other imperial presence within the prison.

A portion of the cell block doors are deactivated, some of them containing nothing but rotted corpses and streaks of old blood. Many of the depot's lights have burnt out, short circuited or have imploded. The ones that remain are either dimmed or are flickering. Parts of the metal interior seem to have corroded from water dripping down from the walls and ceiling.

The interior feels blisteringly hot compared to the outside surprisingly. Meaning that the environmental controls have been shut off or have malfunctioned. Commander Po Har has all their men form up a defensive parameter while he has the prisoner's wound mended. B'el Sah moves towards what looks to be the main console. She begins deactivating the active barriers and orders the squad through comms to start assisting the prisoners. She also orders their technician to reactivate the environmental controls.

All of the prisoners get safely taken out of their cells, and are being tended to in the hallways. As that's going on, B'el Sah overhears a conversation the commander is having with one of the troopers. "Check all of them," he says sternly. "But which one is her, sir," the soldier asks. "Just bring them to me, I'll know which one," is all the commander says before turning away. "Yes, sir," the trooper says before going back down the halls.

This peaks B'el Sah's interest and she walks over to the commander hoping she can pry a little more out of him. "Don't suppose any of these prisoners are of high value, sir," she slyly suggests. The commander struggles for a second in what he wants to say, stroking his chin and hmms to himself.

With a sigh and a quick look around the area he tells her in a low tone, "We don't want the rest of the troops to know this because… command lines and imperial intelligence being what they are, we try to keep these things secret. But, we have a direct order" – he looks around one more time – "from Commander Skywalker."

B'el Sah's eyebrows are raised in surprise as he continues, "And we need to bring back one of these prisoners to him." The commander motions to a small space away from prying eyes and shows B'el Sah a hologram of a young looking Twi'lek girl – possibly mid-twenties. "This was sent from high command right before we left for this mission," he continues. B'el Sah nods and asks, "Do we have a name?" The commander shakes his head, "No.

We don't know her name or anything else about her, but she's important. Important enough for Commander Skywalker to entrust us with this and bring her back safely." "Understood, sir," B'el Sah says while saluting then walks back to the prison's main operating center. At the same time, Lieutenant Mateen enters the prison accompanied sometime after by: Lana who pulls up her goggles the moment they were inside, revealing her blue and green colored eyes; the other two troopers, their two new prisoners, and Officer Tallon.

The PR officer shepherds all three prisoners – whose binds were cut on his orders – into the nearest cell and reactivates it. The red plasma barrier instantly forms, flickering a bit as it does. The Stormtrooper – whose injury had been tended to – looks around the compact cell and comments, "Huh, never seen the inside of these before." The copilot snarls at the soldier, "Shut up."

While that's going on, Lieutenant Mateen walks over to B'el Sah and asks, "Found anything of note yet?" B'el Sah turns to face him and looks up from her datapad, "Indeed I have, Lieutenant." She hands him her datapad and he sees a young Twi'lek girl – serial number 54621 below the picture – with the words, **'TOP PRIORITY** , **'** bolded and capitalized above her picture.

"Find her amongst those we've liberated and bring her to me," she orders. Lieutenant Mateen nods and hands her back the datapad before going into the crowded halls. In the hallway where there's no rebel troops, the lieutenant spots a peculiar sight amongst the disheveled, confused crowd.

A ragged looking human – the only human slave – and a blue skinned Twi'lek girl arguing loudly and standing as oppose to everyone else. The lieutenant decides to include himself in this argument and hears only a bit of the conversation. "You're crazy! T-th-that's not possible. Do you even hear yourself?" The Twi'lek shouts in basic. The human points accusingly at her with eyes wide, "You can't deny the truth! I saw it! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Saw what?" The two stop shouting and look to where the voice came from, and see a tall man with piercing blue eyes and an exposed neck scare looming over them. The human walks up to the lieutenant – the smell becoming more prominent as he does – and points towards her again, "She's a sorceress! I saw it! I saw the guards bring her extra food! More portions than the rest of us! She's a witch!"

The lieutenant looks over to the Twi'lek who shrugs and – understandably – looks at the human like he's a delusional madman. Lieutenant Mateen smiles a bit and shakes his head whilst turning around and heads back to B'el Sah's location. As he leaves the Twi'lek speaks up again, "See Iren, nobody believes you." He shouts back with the same conviction, "Somebody will! Now that we're free, I'ma tell everybody!"

As the lieutenant turns to the next hall, he hears the sounds of bare feet and a familiar voice saying, "Hey, hey…" The lieutenant keeps his gaze forward and only says to her, "Follow me." She does and continues to try and get his attention, asking him various unimportant questions about who he is and where he's from. When B'el Sah is visible and within earshot, the lieutenant says, "Here's your prize." B'el Sah turns around and sees the Twi'lek accompanying Lieutenant Mateen.

Twi'lek girl speaks up, "So… to whom do I owe the pleasure? I've been trapped in here so long I figured I was gonna die in imperial prison." A thought then reaches the Twi'lek's mind and she glares a bit at everyone in the room, "Wait a minute… you're not bounty hunters are you?"

The Lieutenant draws out his blaster pistol, "I'm going outside to make sure we weren't followed." He leaves the two and B'el Sah walks over to the girl. She takes her hands into her own and gently says, "Your savior would be Commander Po Har." B'el Sah turns to the gangplank and shouts while waving a hand, "Sir!"

The commander hears her, leans over the railing to see, and immediately starts sprinting to their location. The Twi'lek's eyebrows raise, "Commander? So… rebels, then?" B'el Sah places a hand on the girl's cheek and smiles warmly, "You're safe now." As Officer Tallon and Lana come back from imprisoning the imperial troops, Lieutenant Mateen passes them by. "We found what we were looking for," he says briefly and continues walking towards the outside.

Meanwhile, B'el Sah goes over to the main comms of the prison, "All troopers and civilians, prepare for Evac. I repeat, prepare for Evac." Afterwards the commander arrives and the reconnaissance officer stands in attention. He says with an appreciative smile, "At ease. And thank you, Officer Sah."

The commander refocuses his attention on the Twi'lek, "Ma'am, we have special instructions to keep you safe. Someone very important is looking out for you." The girl sneers a bit, "What? Me? Why?" The commander shakes his head, "Can't say. Comes from high command, though." She then looks at him confused, "High command from where?"

"Well, the New Republic," he answers. The Twi'lek bursts out laughing, "What 'New Republic'?" Both B'el Sah and the commander look at each other and then at the girl. He asks, "You've been in here a long time, haven't you?" She doesn't answer him and looks away with a sad expression. After a while she nods. "Commander," B'el Sah says before bowing out of the conversation and goes to find Lana and Officer Tallon.

Everyone readies for the scheduled Evac: the troopers organizes line ups, they get the few functioning worker droids in the prison to carry and assist the more injured, disabled and malnourished of the freed slaves; the more able bodied of the freed assisting in the work effort, a quick burial and moment of silence for the trooper the squad had lost; confiscation of any and all imperial weapons, dismantling the interior of the AT-ST for any useful parts, etc.

Lana passes by the cell that holds the three imperial troopers. She stops to look at the copilot. The imperial officer glares back at the bounty hunter while the pilot grovels and embarrasses himself once more – his body pressed against the barrier.

"Y-yes, we-we've certainly learned our lesson! Best to take us out of this prison, an-and back to the New Republic for, uh, reeducation, yes?" Lana pulls down her half mask, fully showing the scar down her right cheek which widens as it goes further down; and a bold yellow, rectangular line tattooed on her chin.

As well as a fiendish smirk coupled with eyes that have nothing but malice in them. "Not a chance," she sneers before putting her half mask and goggles back on, and leaves the three prisoners. Bewildered, the imperial pilot continues shouting, pleading and hoping for someone to open the cell and take them along. The copilot huffs to herself, "Fuckin' typical."

As everyone heads out, Officer Tallon and Lana remain present in the prison. Lana stands outside the doors to make sure no one goes through. Officer Tallon goes up to the cell holding the three imperials, hands clasped behind his back. "Oh, thank goodness," sighs the pilot, "I knew you'd come back! I guess the Force is with us, huh?"

The PR Officer smiles and shakes his head at the ground. He looks back up at them, "It wouldn't be humane of us to let you starve." He moves his left hand to the barrier's control panel and punches in the unlock procedure. The second it turns off, Officer Tallon brings up his right hand, holding his blaster pistol; and shoots the pilot point blank in the neck.

He shoots the Stormtrooper in the head before he could react, and looks down on the copilot death glaring up at him. She gets up, pats herself down, and stands in attention with her head held high. "Rebel scum," she growls while not breaking eye contact with him. Officer Tallon chuckles to himself and sighs, "Loyal to the very end."

He aims and shoots her in the forehead; her body slumps to the ground. Lana flinched every time she heard the sudden blasts. She knew they were going to happen, yet she still reacted as if surprised. Officer Tallon comes to her side shortly after and says – all cheery again, "Come, Lana. We mustn't keep the others waiting." She meekly nods and follows after him.


	5. Chapter 4

At the Evac point, Wex readies an outer comms device and puts the earpiece on. "Yeah, we're done. Yeah… yeah, send in the transport," he says to whoever's on the other line. Minutes after, an interplanetary shuttle comes into their sight and prepares landing procedures. Lieutenant Mateen smirks in satisfaction of a mission accomplished.

The two troopers that were with him talk ecstatically to the others about their success against the AT-ST, and about how the lieutenant handled the situation. Constantly referring to his first shot and how he risked being shot to pieces by the walker in order to get said shot.

"If these are the kind of soldiers we have, the Empire doesn't stand a chance!" One of them shouts out and the others cheer in agreement. Lieutenant Mateen sighs when hearing their commotion, his hand combing through his hair one more time before he grabs his things and walks towards the shuttle.

The ship lands without any complications and everyone starts loading in. The rebel pilot exits out of the cockpit and calls for a head count. He finds one out of the 12 missing. One of the troops go to him and place a hand on the pilot's shoulder, shaking his head. "Vorgoth Mish'wor'Goth **(goddamn it Jesse)** died saving us from a concussion grenade launched by the AT-ST." The pilot looks down and sighs, "Damn… at least his sacrifice wasn't in vain." All the other troopers agree except for Lieutenant Mateen.

He bluntly states, "Death is inevitable; every one of you should expect it." Officer Tallon coughs at the unexpected response from the lieutenant, but says and does nothing. Lana scowls and glares daggers at him, not caring that her face is exposed and everyone can see. B'el Sah keeps her eyes glued to her datapad and doesn't even seem to be paying attention to what they're saying.

After a long pause, one of the troopers speaks up, "Yeah. Dying in the service of the New Republic is a glorious death. We aren't cowards like the Empire. We shouldn't be afraid of them, they should be fearing us!" The other troopers; minus Tharan, the commander, and company, agree with him and give a hearty, "Hooah!" The lieutenant remains unfazed by them. He closes his eyes and begins to fall asleep.

As the shuttle takes off and everyone is buckled in, the commander moves through the shuttle to talk to Officers Tallon and Sah. "When we get to Junket's Crossing, I'll arrange a meeting with an old friend of mine. She'll get us to the main base." Officer Tallon looks at him shocked, "Commander, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Po Har nods and pats both of their shoulders, "Congratulations officers. The higher ups have been impressed with your work towards the cause, and wish to debrief you at our base of operations." Officers Tallon and Sah salute to the commander and give an ardent, "Sir!"

The shuttle's entry ramp opens and the squad is greeted by the mining town of Junket's Crossing. As well as its near blinding sunlight and fast moving, hot winds. The ground itself is red with black splotches and various cracks within it. The buildings hang so low that it doesn't even look like you can stand in the houses.

The sky is a calm blue against the ash ridden, black and red backdrop of the planet's surface. The wind starts to pick up and ash and dust soon follow it. The mining droids work diligently to transport the last bit of ore before going to shelter themselves. The town's ash catchers and processors beginning to fill up nicely by the coming storm. Everyone covers up, step outside, and hurriedly move to the nearest public building to escape the oppressive heat.

The troops make it to a local cantina buried beneath the ground. They're welcomed in by its calm, cool lighting. The generator for the establishment's environmental controls works overtime to keep the interior at a pleasant room temperature. The local Jizz band plays a slower, more relaxed melody than what's normally used for this type of environment. A collective sigh of relief emanates from the squad.

As they take their cloaks, goggles and scarves off; Commander Po Har whispers to Officer Tallon. "We just need to lay low now. I got a ship coming – the 'Coruscant Dream.' The pilot's a smuggler but she's reliable. Should be in oh" – Po Har takes a brief look at his chrono-meter – "should only be a few hours now." The PR officer nods, but before he can go to the bar, the commander places a hand on his shoulder.

Po Har looks over at the men then at the ground for a brief moment, "I'm a little worried, Tharan." He then fixes his gaze on the lieutenant and then looks back at Tharan. "What Otto said on board… I mean, it was the truth, but I…" Po Har thinks his words over, "Well, they're just boys. We can't have them thinking that a 'glorious death' is what the New Republic stands for."

Po Har inches in closer, "Listen. Can… can you talk to them? Can you do something about this – you're more capable than I am with this sort of thing. I mean I don't want… it's good to have heroes, but…" Lana overhears this and just leans back at a wall next to the troops to see how this plays out. Tharan nods to Po Har, "The troops need their occasional hero, but I understand. Let me handle this."

He goes over to the tables at one of the corners of the cantina where his squadmates are conversing with one another. As he gets closer, Tharan hears what the men are plotting, "Yeah, but this place used to be controlled by the imperials. Don't you think there could be spies everywhere? We should root them out while we still can." Each of them continue in suggesting extremely risky, if not foolhardy, ideas about how they should go about their missions and the sector itself.

"What if there's more imperials to kill," one of them questions before Tharan catches their attention a hearty laugh. "Ah, there's never enough imperials to kill, lads." The group explodes in laughter at Tharan's comment, accompanied by several shouting, "Here here!"

He brings them back down shortly after, "But in all seriousness, our job here is done. There's no need to root out imperials who aren't there. We don't need to do anything else but relax and wait. Afterwards, we'll be home, enjoying real meals in how knows how long. Maybe some sleep, finally."

Tharan moves to one of the privates and places his left hand on his shoulder. He looks down at him with a knowing smirk, "I know there's that girl you're hot for, Gunther. And I bet she's waiting for you too." Tharan wiggles his eyebrows in emphasis while the trooper turns red and tries hiding in his own uniform. "N-n-no," he shyly protests. One of the troopers currently laughing at Gunther's expense gives him a playful shove.

Tharan then addresses them all, "It's okay, it's okay. The battle's over, we've mourned for our dead, and now we unwind. So come! Have another drink, hell why not 10 more?" He merrily says lightly chucking a handful of credits at them. "Kick your legs up; enjoy the music; enjoy the galaxy's splendors; sing to your heart's content! Just be glad, you lived to see another day."

The group of troopers join in and cheer just as enthusiastically as Tharan. They start to do their own celebration within the cantina; singing, laughing, drinking, playing sabak, chatting up some of the dancers, etc. The Jizz band matches with the crowd's new atmosphere with an upbeat and almost frantic sounding tune.

The mood of the place becomes far less tense. Po Har sits back, happy to see his men enjoy themselves. "You've earned it, boys," he says to himself. He shifts his attention back to the Twi'lek girl they rescued and continues talking with her.

As the impromptu party commences, Tharan goes over to Otto, glaring at him the whole time. He whispers to his side, "Don't you dare compromise this squad, 'lieutenant'." Otto whispers back, "Apologies, sir. Didn't know I was compromising 'our team'." Otto stares back at his squadmate with a knowing look.

Tharan keeps his gaze on him and vice versa. They stay like this for a solid minute before the PR officer leaves the lieutenant's side, and makes his way to the bar. After Tharan gets his drinks, he motions for the others to come sit and have a drink with him. Po Har looks to where Tharan, Lana, B'el Sah and Otto are sitting and motions them over. Tharan nods and moves his companions to where their commander is.

"Tharan, this is Ki'Wul En. She's a… well, um…" Po Har scratches his balding head, trying to find the best words to describe her. The Twi'lek interjects, "Well, until recently I was a slave. Now I'm a friend," she says extending her hand out to Tharan. He takes her hand and shakes, looking her up and down; and says matter-of-factly, "So you're the important one." She nods, "That's what the commander keeps telling me." She says with uncertainty in her voice and doubt written all over her face.

"I-I mean…" She breaks into a small chuckle and looks down on the ground. "I mean it's kind of embarrassing, but I was captured for…" she hesitates and looks away. "Well… let's just say I told an officer no and he didn't like hearing no. After that… well… I've been in that prison for a long time – longer than I can remember. But, um, I'm free now and I guess I've got an appointment with somebody important." She says ending it with a smile and a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"The commander told me that there's a warehouse we're going to hide in and a ship coming. I can finally get off this rock. Not like I've seen any other rock but…" Tharan says to her with a winning smile, "Oh, there are many rocks out there, my dear. Many far more beautiful than this one." The Twi'lek laughs and says, "Well that shouldn't be too hard."

She then looks inquisitively at the group, "Are we going to the imperial center?" Tharan looks at her shocked, "The imperial center? My dear, this is the New Republic! The Empire's fallen: the Emperor and his right hand, dead. The Death Star – one and two…" He chuckles and mutters, "The fools," before continuing. "Gone. You'd think they would've learned their lesson after the first one."

Ki'Wul En bursts out laughing at Tharan's remark, "There was a second Death Star?" Tharan lets out an embarrassingly loud laugh that makes Otto and Lana roll their eyes, and B'el Sah pinches the bridge of her nose. "I know! Hard to believe," he says. The Twi'lek sighs, "I've got a lot to learn. Well, wherever we're going" – she stops to spit at the ground – "It'll be better than this dump."

After an hour and a half, the commander gathers up: Ki'Wul En, Tharan, Otto, B'el Sah, Lana, and their troops to go to the warehouse – the only building in town that actually looks one story tall. The floor however, goes further down than one would expect, and spans out farther than the structure up top would suggest.

The freed slaves were moved here by the town's stationed garrison and have been given their fair share of: bedding, clothes, rations, etc. Commander Po Har looks at his chrono-meter and signals for one of the guards in the warehouse to crack open the dome ceiling. Once it opens a freighter flies in and lands at the center of the room. Its entry ramp opens and out comes a middle aged woman with heavily tanned skin and a leather pilot's jacket.

Po Har walks up the ship's ramp and the two hug each other. She chuckles and pats his back, "Po Har, you old dog! I'm so glad you survived." Po Har laughs, "Ah, you can't kill me that easily. You should know that better than anyone else." The woman walks off the ramp and looks around the warehouse, "Looks like you've picked up some space trash on the way." He shakes his head and motions her over, "Let me introduce you to the crew."

They walk over to B'el Sah first, who's currently working on a mission report to present to the higher ups. "Officer Sah, this is captain Killian, our escort." The commander gestures to the smuggler. Killian brings out her hand and says, "Hi." B'el Sah briefly looks up, quickly shakes her hand and says, "Pleasure," before refocusing on finishing up her report.

Killian looks at her confused and a bit offended. "Well you're a warm one," she mutters. B'el Sah doesn't give her a response. She puts her datapad away once she's finished and picks up her bags. As she walks towards the freighter Po Har comments, "She may be hard to warm up to, but I'm sure you'll come around like the rest of us. Beneath that cold exterior, she really does care."

The commander then guides the captain over to Lana. The bounty hunter is currently doing her best to ignore, and not punch, the guard sitting across from her. He's trying to impress her with how fast he can move his vibro-knife around his fingers on the table. She tries distracting herself by checking and doing maintenance on her weapons over and over.

As the commander and the captain come towards the table, the guard quickly stands at attention. He accidentally cuts the tip of his index finger in the process. "Ow! Shit!" He mutters and quickly shakes his hand around in response before hiding it behind him. Lana looks up to see the commander and the woman next to him. The smuggler gives the hunter an upward nod, eying her gear before stating, "You finally got some competent help for once, Po."

Lana keeps her face expressionless, but sheaths her vibro-longsword and holds out a hand. The captain shakes it and Lana greets her. "Hi. I'm Lana; Lana Jori. Nice to meet you." She turns her attention back to the guard across from her. Her face changes to an agitated look. "Idiot," she blurts out. The captain eyebrows raise up, "Wait… Jori? Why does that name sound so familiar?"

The commander assesses the situation and says while feign looking at his chrono-meter, "Killian come. Time's a wastin'." She nods and follows, but looks over her shoulder and narrows her eyes suspiciously at Lana. The hunter locks her gaze with the captain's but makes sure no emotion is shown. Once she's out of sight, Lana returns to what she was doing, this time putting her half mask up. She also shifts her attention back at the guard who's nursing his cut. He sees her looking at him and tries to act like it's nothing. She just gives an exasperated sigh returning to her vibro-longsword.

The commander brings Killian over to the last two. Otto sees them and signals to Tharan that someone's coming. Tharan turns his holobook off and folds up his reading glasses back into its case. The two stand in attention and the commander nods to them, "At ease." The two do so.

"Officer Tallon; Lieutenant Mateen. Let me introduce you to our pilot, Killian." Tharan grins ear to ear and offers his hand. The captain shakes it and he says with his usual, almost obnoxious, upbeat attitude, "So you're the smuggler friend the commander's been talking about. Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you Miss Killian. I am Public Relations Officer Tharan Tallon."

"A PR guy, huh? You got some stones for being right in the thick of it, or so Po tells me." Killian says somewhat surprised and a bit put off by how overly optimistic Tharan seems to be. Tharan chuckles, "Well, I wouldn't be worth my salt if I didn't sweat or bleed for the New Republic once in a while, Miss Killian." "Good to know," she politely says to exit out of the conversation before Tharan decides to throw some propaganda at her.

She turns her attention to the other man, "And this biggan's Mateen I assume?" Otto says nothing but takes her right hand, leans down and places a kiss on her knuckles. "Ma'am," he says before returning to his bags and carrying them off towards Killian's freighter.

The smuggler was completely caught off guard and her face must've shown it for Tharan chuckled a bit. "Ah, the lieutenant does have a flare for the dramatic, Miss Killian. And people nowadays say chivalry's dead." Tharan grabs his things as well and says to the captain and commander, "Shall we?"


	6. Chapter 5

The rebel squad and freed slaves load up into the freighter with needed supplies, and their own personal effects. Once everyone's inside, the ship takes off, warping towards their destination. In the makeshift mess hall the rebels made for the other passengers, the commander eats with Tharan and company along with Ki'Wul En.

After their meal the commander speaks up to Tharan and the others, "We should be there any minute now. And it goes without saying…" He pauses for a bit, "This is one of those hidden bases. Unlike Yaven, we actually don't want people to know we're out here. Like I said before, high command are very impressed with you four, and them wanting you here means that there'll be more important tasks ahead of you."

He looks over to Lana and has this look of complete understanding etched on his face. "I want you to know that this is a huge responsibility, and if you're not ready for it – if you just want your payment and go – no one's gonna hold it against you." Lana doesn't say anything to Po Har but scrunches up at his words, insulted at what he said.

She looks over to Tharan and motions for him to say something. Tharan smiles, looking at her and then at the commander before saying, "I have a feeling she'll stick around, sir." The commander decides not to pry and just nods, "That's good. We need as many of you as we can get."

After the commander's sentence an explosive, crackling sound tells everyone they've just exited out of hyperspace. The crew go to the freighter's plasteel side windows and see a large asteroid field. The system's white colored sun helps them catch a glimpse of an asteroid that looks to have been hollowed out. Buildings can be seen on its surface. Their view of the station is cut short by the freighter turning right and heading towards the base. Everybody in the freighter form a lineup and wait for the ship to dock.

Once the entry ramp is down, 11 rebel troops and 35 freed slaves pour out, meeting the deafening cheers of a large group of New Republic soldiers. The commander waves and nods; but goes about the whole thing modestly. Tharan does the exact opposite of what the commander's doing, and even blows off kisses to the crowd.

Otto isn't affected by any of it; he looks straight ahead stone faced, but occasionally looks around the station's port, taking every little detail into account. B'el Sah tunes all of it out, focusing squarely on her datapad; making new notes, proofreading while adding some final touches to the report, assessing the state of the crew, etc.

And Lana tries hiding from it all: pulling up her half mask, putting her goggles back on, forcing the hood down even more, holding her head low, and staying behind Tharan. She just appears uncomfortable being in this crowd. Captain Killian, meanwhile, goes around high fiving the troops and is beaming with joy as are most of the others.

Medical teams soon come rushing in to take the freed slaves into protective care. The commander turns his attention to Ki'Wul En who's completely awe struck by the whole experience. "High command will want to know we have you as soon as possible." He gestures to the left side of the hanger, "If you'll come with me to my office."

The Twi'lek nods, "Yeah, of course." The two start to head off, away from the port and the crowd. Tharan manages to escape to crowd and catches them before they got too far. "Oh, commander, sir! If it's not too much trouble – being a public relations representative – I would like to oversee this meeting. Using what I can to help boost morale throughout Republic space, and bring more people and systems to our cause."

The commander nods while smiling at his friend and comrade, "Absolutely, Officer Tallon. In fact, I'd love to introduce you to some of the high command. I'd think they would like to meet the man who helped make this possible." Lana looks through the crowd to see where Tharan went, and once she sees him, she hurries towards his direction.

Tharan looks over his shoulder, and as he expected, sees Lana following him. He shakes his head at her and points to where B'el Sah and Otto are. Lana nods and jogs back to the others who've finally exited from the now dispersing crowd.

B'el Sah soon wanders off from Otto and Lana, putting down her datapad as she strolls away. Otto walks to the nearest protocol droid he can find. An olive green painted protocol droid catches his attention and he walks over to it. "Ah, greetings visitors! This is asteroid base 6564; I am so pleased to have you!

"I am M4-3T, New Republic military liaison. If there is anything I can do for you I am happy to help." The droid begins listing off various functions and services it can provide. Otto interrupts, "Droid, do you have any ships available?" The droid responds in its annoyingly chipper tone, "Why yes, sir! We have many combat vessels! I believe we have 60…" Otto interrupts it again, "Transport vessels."

The droid stops and processes this new bit of information, "What kind of transport ship do you need, sir?" "One that can fit a small team," Otto answers. The droid says, "One moment please," and starts going through its data banks to see what they have. The droid answers, "Why yes, we have four ships that would fit you definition."

It then starts to list off the jargon, mechanics and terminologies for each ship. Lana understands everything the droid's saying perfectly, but Otto looks completely uninterested and annoyed. "Just take us to them," he orders. "Oh, of course, sir! Right this way," the droid directs them to the far end of the port where four ships reside.

One of them appears to be an old mining transport. Another that's shaped more like a bird and has a large hull breach on its side. "Oh no, that won't do at all. Not at all," the droid mutters. Then there's an older model of the freighter they just came in, and lastly, a Lambda shuttle that looks like its seen combat multiple times.

M4-3T turns around to face Otto and Lana, "Aside from the damaged one, any of these ships would be suitable for transportation across the asteroid belt, and three of the four have hyper drives for your convenience." Otto nods, "You're done here." M4-3T bows to Otto and says, "Yes sir, of course sir! Happy to have been of help, sir." As the droid shuffles away Otto turns to Lana and asks, "Do you have a preference?"

Lana doesn't answer and just moves towards each shuttle, measuring their worth. She naturally ignores the damaged one out of the four. 'We want speed, decent plating, some defensive capabilities…' She mentally lists off things that the ship should have to get her approval. Each of them appear to be in rough shape but still functional.

'It doesn't have to be pretty to fly,' she inwardly reminds herself. The mining vessel and freighter are too bulky and possibly too slow for what they need, and they don't even have cannons outfitted. Her list of options was quickly narrowed down to the Lambda shuttle.

She goes back to it and places her hand on it. The ship's history floods into her mind. After a long pause, she opens the hatch and walks inside to prepare. Otto shrugs and mutters to himself, "Guess that settles it."

As Tharan keeps pace with the commander and Ki'Wul En as they go down the halls. The comm-link still latched to his fatigues starts buzzing. Tharan he instantly presses it in response and the vibrations stop. The commander opens the doors to a large communications room.

Only a round table with a holo-projector in the middle can be seen. The projector currently shows a display of the local system they're in. Tharan looks at it and can actually see which system and asteroid belt they're in. Commander Po Har pulls out a chair for Ki'Wul En next to his. Once she's situated he sits down and starts typing in on the main console.

He motions to the seat on the right, "Feel free to have a seat, Officer Tallon." Tharan gives a small smirk and replies, "Thank you, sir, but if it's all right, I prefer to stand." "Hmm, very well then," the commander absentmindedly answers. Tharan walks up behind the commander and keeps his gaze on display, waiting for any changes in it. "If you don't mind me asking, sir, who is it we're going to be talking to?" Commander Po Har looks over his shoulder, "I'm trying to get in touch with General Madin. He's the one who put me on this mission in the first place, but he's become a very busy man as of late so we'll see."

Tharan, for the first time in the time the commander has known him, angrily sighs. "So this could take a while, then?" The commander's surprised by the change in attitude but says nothing about it, and nods in Tharan's general direction. "Unfortunately we're spread pretty thin and the Outer Rim isn't a huge priority. Politics and such, you know?" The commander sighs when mentioning the political side of their situation to the PR officer.

While Commander Po Har was talking, Tharan takes a step back from him and methodically puts on a pair of black gloves. Once he has them on he flexes his hands. His accent also changes drastically when replying to the commander, "Well… so much for that idea." The commander stops mid typing and Ki'Wul En's head jerks up. Before the commander could react, Tharan drew out his blaster pistol and shot him in the back of his head.

Commander Po Har's body crashes onto the table. Ki'Wul En screams in shock and falls out of her chair. Before she could regain her footing; Tharan rushes towards her, grabs her by the throat and raises her up. "You would do well in shutting up, dear," Tharan politely threatens. The Twi'lek desperately tries to breathe and only feels Tharan's grip tighten before he slams her down on the table. "You're coming with me one way or another. So do yourself a favor and don't resist."

Tharan's comm-link buzzes again and when it does the display on the holo-projector flickers out, and is soon replaced by a transparent imperial cog with a bluish hue. It fades out and out comes a crackling, static image with the shape of a man wearing a stiff collared, white naval uniform (same blue hue present).

Tharan wrings Ki'Wul En back up, places his left hand on her mouth instead of her throat; and points his blaster pistol's barrel at her temple. "Agent Tallon, report," the image says with great authority. Tharan moves to where the image can see his hostage and stands in attention. "We have her, Grand Admiral. You may commence your run." The image lags when giving nod towards Tharan and says, "Affirmative, agent," before disappearing.

The imperial cog reappears and starts beeping and blinking red. Tharan forcefully directs Ki'Wul En towards the door. All while she shouts through his hand, hoping her words will break through. She also pitifully tries to shake herself free. Whenever she tries using her arms, Tharan applies more pressure to her temple with the blaster's barrel. "Come along dear. We have a ship to catch," Tharan says in his more familiar, positive tone. But it's slightly altered and sounds more sinister by his true accent.


	7. Chapter 6

Back at the hangar, B'el Sah arrives at the location Otto relayed to her, and is accompanied by several worker droids carrying their group's bags. Once they've stored it on board, B'el Sah returns to her datapad and types in a release code for the droids. The machines soon return to their intended roles.

She enters the ship, undoing her large bun; allowing her waist long, pure white hair to fall, and immediately gets her bag. She enters the Lambda's refresher room and closes the door. "Finally, I can get out of this tacky, sorry excuse for a uniform," she mutters to herself, finally speaking in her native accent. The first thing she does is pull out a contact lens case and carefully takes out the sky blue colored lenses.

Revealing dull, yellow colored irises with red swirls around her pupils. Lana enters the cockpit, putting her hood down and taking off the half mask and goggles. She hastily preps the shuttle for launch, suspecting Tharan has already taken the girl, and makes sure all systems are moderately functional; the shuttle begins humming back to life. Afterwards, she looks over her shoulder to Otto, who's already taken one of the 12 passenger seats – his rifle bag in an open seat next to him; and gives him a thumbs up.

Otto nods and comms Tharan on low volume, "Ship secured, squad leader." Otto also gives him their current location in the docking bay. It was just then that B'el Sah exited out of the shuttle's refresher dressed in: black hooded robes with a red interior, a white-gray colored imperial uniform with a knee length skirt, black heels, a metallic belt clasped over her robes, a badge with her rank as an Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) agent pinned onto her uniform's left-center, and jewelry with imperial markings adorned on her; two rings on her left middle and pinkie fingers, and earrings on both lobes.

She also had her makeup and hair done – all of it combed over to her right side. Otto looks her over and blurts out, "Well that was faster than usual." She huffs at him, "Perfection takes as much time as it wants, Agent Mateen."

Tharan cautiously moves throughout the halls making sure he doesn't alert any new republic stooges, but Ki'Wul En doesn't help matters no matter how much he threatens her with death. Just as he goes down a four way hall, two of the rebel troops from 'his squadron' come around the corner and see Tharan.

They stare in shock by the sight of their 'friend' holding Ki'Wul En hostage. One of them immediately goes for his blaster pistol. Tharan recognizes one of them as Gunther, the boy who was talking about imperial spies, and decides to trick them. He changes back to his fake accent, making sure he looks and sounds distraught and hysterical.

"Gunther, my boy! You were right! I should've listened!" Gunther quickly puts a hand on the other rebels shoulder and shakes his head. He inquisitively looks back to Tharan, "Whaddya mean, sir?" Tharan cries out, "There was a spy! It was this Twi'lek! The entire rescue op was a set up! She assassinated the commander, my friend, before my very eyes!" Tharan pretends to be holding back tears and sniffs. "She even had a tracking device on her! The imperials probably know where we are already!"

"Shit," Gunther blurts out with a shocked look. Ki'Wul En wrestles against Tharan once more and shouts as loud as she can, but her words are still muffled by his gloved hand.

The two rebels look at each other with shock and anger on their faces, and then turn their attention back to Tharan. "We gotta warn the others. Officer Tallon, go with Gunther to the cells. I'll warn the others." Tharan nods, "Good thinking trooper. Hurry!" The rebel runs off to the left corridor while Gunther motions Tharan to follow him to the right corridor. "Come on, the cells are this way."

The second the private turned his back on Tharan, the imperial agent tossed Ki'Wul En as hard as he could at him. Tharan turned to the running trooper on the opposite hall and fired through his back. The rebel fell with a sudden cry of pain and a sickening thunk was heard shortly after. Tharan turned back to the Twi'lek and rebel on the floor. He grabbed the girl by her lekku and tossed her against the left wall. Gunther got on one knee, holding his forehead, "Ugh… wh-what happ…," was all he said before Tharan shot him point blank in the back of the head.

Ki'Wul En tries to crawl away in spite of her panicking and hyperventilating. Tharan turns and shoots the floor 10 cm ahead of her. She jerks back and screams. Tharan grabs her by her left lekku again and yanks her up behind him. She screams in pain before Tharan places the still warm blaster barrel underneath her jaw.

Tears begin to stream down her face as she turns her head to glare hatefully at the man she called 'friend.' Tharan mockingly tuts at her, "No, no… this is not where you run." He says in his usual calm and cheerful demeanor; perverted by both his current actions and wicked undertone. It was at this point seven imperial star destroyers began popping out of hyperspace and into the asteroid field. Legions of TIE fighters soon swarmed out of them.

Back in the docking bay, the alarms start flaring up, and a voice shouts over comms, "We are under attack!" I repeat, we are under attack! All personnel, to your stations!" Through the cockpit's window, Lana could see republic pilots rushing towards their ships. The bounty hunter picks up her comm-link and says, "Sir, we need to go, now." She then sees a blue skinned figure in the distance, amongst the current panic. Everyone is so preoccupied in getting to their battle stations that no one seems to notice Tharan shoving a poor Twi'lek girl ahead at gunpoint.

The asteroid then takes its first hit, shaking throughout the entire foundation; objects start falling over, panels loosen, some people lose their footing, and the room's lights turn red. "Emergency procedures on floors six and seven commencing. Re-pressurizing," a robotic voice announces over the station's main comms.

Otto goes to his comm-link and says while getting up and moving towards the shuttle's entry ramp, "Squad leader, I'm gonna need your location." Tharan chuckles and uses his right thumb on his comm-link to answer, "Oh, I'm on my way." Otto asks, "Do you need assistance, sir?" Tharan replies, "Nothing a little" – he tightens his grip and tugs on Ki'Wul En's lekku, causing her to hiss in pain – "'persuasion' couldn't handle." Otto is halfway down the ramp at this point and replies, "Understood."

Before he can reenter the shuttle three troopers from the squad they were in come up to their location. Instead of black and gray camouflage, they're suited up in orange flight suits. Otto stays where he is, looking at them expressionless, and Lana gets out of the pilot's seat to assist him. She walks over to B'el Sah in the passenger area and sternly says in low a voice, "Don't go out; keep yourself hidden."

B'el Sah crosses her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow at her, "And when were you allowed to give orders, 'bounty hunter'?" She softly asks, putting emphasis he last two words; as if reminding Lana where her place was. Lana ignores her and hurries towards the entry ramp. In spite of the hunter's insolence, B'el Sah makes sure she isn't spotted by the rebels.

One of the troopers says to Otto, "Lieutenant, there's a ship for you." He gestures back to an unmanned Y-wing, "We're probably gonna need you in the battle, sir." The trooper shakes his head in disbelief, "I don't know how they could've found us." Otto looks around to see how many troopers there are, and if anyone else is watching. He answers back, "I've got my ship here. Maybe one of you should take that one."

This catches the troopers by surprise; they look at each other and then at the shuttle with confusion, and a hint of suspicion. "But why would you…," the trooper says before Lana shows up at the ship's entrance. She kneels down, making sure she's visible, and shouts, "Because he can't fly for shit. I'm his pilot, he's my gunner. Now, if you don't mind, we have a battle to get to." Otto looks up at her, she winks, and he turns his head back at the rebels to see if they bought it.

The troopers look at each other and nod. The one who was talking to Otto walks up the ramp and puts a hand on his shoulder. "May the Force be with you, sir."

Otto's cool demeanor cracks a bit; his neck tenses on the words and his hands form into fists. He reluctantly nods and quickly says, "M-ma-may the… may the Force be with you as well." The trooper nods and motions the others to the remaining ships. Lana sees the situation is under control and returns to the cockpit.

Otto turns around and deeply sighs with the angriest look on his face. He storms up the entry ramp and goes to the gunnery station to prepare. B'el Sah emerges from the shadows and callously says, "You're getting soft, sergeant." Otto keeps his gaze on the gunnery controls, but growls at B'el Sah's words.

Lana gets back in the pilot's seat and sees Tharan and their hostage coming closer to their position. She turns her head towards the gunnery. "Pssst," she says to get Otto's attention. He turns his head and she motions to the window. He walks over and sees Tharan; he hurriedly turns around and heads for the entry ramp.

As Tharan and Ki'Wul En get closer to the Lambda, the Twi'lek makes a desperate decision to elbow the imperial agent in the ribs as hard as she can. 'If timed right I can run into the crowd of republic troops before he can shoot me,' she thinks. The Twi'lek commences her plan and quickly jabs him in the chest. The imperial agent is winded by the sudden motion, and loses his grip on her.

Before she can go into a sprint, he lets go of his blaster pistol and uses his right hand to grab her by her shirt collar. She chokes and stumbles back; she tries pulling her shirt collar down to breathe. Tharan roughly pulls her back up just as Otto approaches them.

At the shuttle, Lana looks over to B'el Sah who's just sitting and working on her nails. "Are you gonna do anything," she asks, slightly irritated. The imperial keeps her gaze on her nails as she coolly says, "No." When Otto is close enough he punches Ki'Wul En in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

She passes out and he takes her from Tharan's grip, slinging her over his shoulder. "Sir, the ship is ready. It's the Lambda class not too far from us," Otto impassively says. Tharan picks up and holsters his blaster pistol, "Well gee, thanks," he snides before going on ahead of him. The fellow agent soon follows suit.

Once everyone's on board, Lana prepares launching procedures: the entry ramp closes, the landing gear starts retracting into the shuttle, and the ship's wings begin to unfold. If she had it her way she'd use the hyperdrive the second they were out of the hanger. Unfortunately, the legions of star destroyers invading are interdictor classes. Otto places Ki'Wul En in one of the passenger seats and rummages through his bags.

He pulls out cuffs for her ankles with enough space between them for walking, and specially made handcuffs that enclose the girl's forearms and hands. He types in a code on the connecting middle of the cuffs. They seal her arms and emit a humming sound. Lana turns her head back and shouts to Otto, "Otto, man the guns!" Otto walks over to the gunnery station while sternly saying, "You do not give me orders, Kiffar. Remember that for your sake." Lana just sighs, rolling her eyes once more, and redirects her focus back to the hanger.

B'el Sah blows her nails one more time before beginning her meditation: she puts her hands down on her knees, clasping them into fists; closes her eyes, and hangs her head low. She hears Otto and Lana speak, but it all sounds like muffled echoes to her. Her sharpened nails dig into her palms, drawing out blood as they do. Her jaw clenches and her teeth grit against each other. The imperial agent reaches out to her rage, and draws out power from everyone else's anger and fear.

But as she searches for the answers she seeks, she begins to feel a disturbing calm and sense of serenity within her mind. The vision she's seeking starts to fade away from her grasp. B'el Sah focuses harder: biting down on the inside of her bottom lip till it bleeds, tightening her fists so the nails cut deeper, ignoring the nauseating tranquil up swell she feels.

An inhuman, otherworldly growl emanates from her as she forces herself to concentrate. And finally, she sees it. A vision of their shuttle flying away from the battlefield but is pursued. Not by republic ships, but by two TIE interceptors. They destroy the Lambda and the vision fades out. B'el Sah opens her eyes, breathing heavily from overexertion, before getting up and walking towards the cockpit.

"Sergeant Mateen. Once we're out of the battlefield, two TIE interceptors will pursue us. Be ready," she says affirmed whilst still a bit out of breath. Otto nods towards her direction, and says while readying the guns, "Rodger. Will I have a clear sight?" "Yes," she answers.

Tharan, standing behind Lana's right side and carefully taking off his gloves; speaks up with agitation in his voice. "Shut up! Get us out of here; kill whoever you have to kill; it doesn't matter. We have our quarry, let's go." "Understood," everyone answers simultaneously.

Once their way is clear, Lana guns the thrusters and they leave the hanger straight into a complete cluster of: asteroids, imperial and republic ships, medium and heavy blaster bolts, as well as hot slag and debris from said ships. As the Lambda flies through the massacre of ships, its shields take several hits from all sides. Lana reactively ducks the ship and has it narrowly dodge any potential threats and hazards.

A TIE fighter that's been blasted spins out of control and nearly clips the shuttle's right wing. She has the ship sore over one of the star destroyers, just barely escaping its cannon fire. She breathes a sigh of relief and checks the shuttle's vitals to see that their back shields are no longer functioning.

Otto spins the guns on the shuttle's wings to prepare for any incoming threats. "Two TIE interceptors in bound," he coolly says. Lana curses under her breath and tries thinking of something. Tharan remains fixed on his position, completely calm and collected. The shuttle's comms system lights up, meaning the interceptors are only scanning them, for now.

Lana realizes what she can do, and tries remembering the ISB signal codes Tharan gave her. Once she has it, the bounty hunter punches them in and begins broadcasting. Seconds after, the shuttle's comms flare up with a message. Lana looks to Tharan for what to do; he gives an exasperated sigh, still facing the plasteel window. "Don't be rude, Miss Jori."

She gingerly nods downward and opens comms. They hear a male's voice, "Apologies, sir. Thought you were one of theirs. Do you need an escort?" The interceptors form alongside the Lambda. Lana prepares the comms channel on their end. Once set, Tharan presses the button and says into the speaker, "An escort to the edge of the battlefield would be lovely."

The interceptors fly in formation with the Lambda until they reach safe space and peel off. Shortly after, the crew hears the imperial star destroyers making their bombardment run. Indicating that the republic station's fleet have been fully dealt with. Otto disengages from the gunnery station and moves back to his seat, which sits across from Ki'Wul En.

B'el Sah mended her injured palms once she heard the interceptors were giving them an escort instead of blaster fire. Afterwards, she sits back down and breathes a sigh of relief that this timeline ended with them living. Lana types in the coordinates Tharan had told her preemptively before they had even set foot on the rebel station. Tharan gently pats Lana's right shoulder and brightly says, "Wonderful flying as always, Miss Jori."

"Th-thank y…" Lana wasn't able to finish her sentence as Tharan moves his hand to her head, and slams the left side of her face on the control console. She gasped in both surprise and pain. The shuttle buckles a bit before stabilizing itself. He leans in and yells into her ear, "If you ever" – he places great emphasis on 'ever' and deliberately pauses.

"… Act without my say so again, or give orders to my" – he stresses on the word 'my' as well. "… Subordinates without my approval, I will end you. Do I make myself clear?" Lana avoids looking at the imperial agent and slowly nods while still planted against the console. She desperately tries to pull back her hatred and fear towards this man, as well as the tears swell up in her eyes.

Tharan lets go of her head and changes his tone back to a lighter one, "Good. It would be a shame if your son grew up without a mother. Or that I would be forced to make an 'example' out of him." Lana hands clench into fists on the console momentarily before she releases them. She also tries to keep her breathing steady. A red mark with imprints and lines has already formed on her left cheek. She hurriedly wipes her eyes before returning to her duties.

Ki'Wul En stirs back into consciousness, mumbling to herself. As she becomes more aware, she feels the stinging pain around her abdomen and tries holding it. When she doesn't feel her hands connecting, she tries regaining her vision. After several blinks, she looks down at her hands and sees them cuffed in a strange device.

Otto instinctively pulls out his blaster pistol and points it at her, watching for any sudden moves. She looks up to see Otto and B'el Sah sitting across. The look of utter betrayal and anger forms on her features. B'el Sah smiles when feeling the girl's hatred flowing within her. 'Good,' she thinks. Otto tilts his head at the Twi'lek and asks, "How long have you known?" She glares at him, "I don't know what you're talking about." "Don't play dumb," he sternly replies.

She tries spitting towards his feet and only makes it halfway, "I know what you people did to the Jedi! Nothing that happened to me in that prison is as bad as that." "We'll see, little one," B'el Sah patronizingly says to her. Otto glares at the girl, his index finger sliding towards the trigger, "And how do you know?"

Tharan enters in on the conversation and strides over to Ki'Wul En. The Twi'lek visibly tenses and scrunches herself up in her seat. He grabs her right lekku and callously pulls her back on her feet. She shouts in pain but her cries fall onto deaf ears once again. He drags her over to the cockpit, "Lana, turn the shuttle around; keep it idle."

Lana does this without hesitation, her hands shaking a bit as she does. The three of them soon have a view of the devastation of the republic base and the star destroyers. Tharan shoves the Twi'lek's face against the plasteel and whispers to her, "Look at the price your rebel friends paid in 'saving' you. Force user or not, no one escapes from the Empire, my dear. We'll get what we need out of you, and should you be compliant, we may even let you live."

He carelessly tosses her to the floor shortly after, and repositions himself back at Lana's side. Otto walks in and picks her up gently. This surprises Ki'Wul En but she decides to stay quiet about it. Fearing that it's either a trick or he'll stop being, somewhat, considerate if it's mentioned. The sergeant walks her back to her seat and he returns to sitting across from her, blaster pistol in hand.

Lana turns the shuttle away from the asteroid belt, and has the thrusters return to full throttle. She turns her head further away from where Tharan is as she readies the hyperdrive, anger prevalent on her face. She mumbles to him, "Sir, are you ready?" Tharan doesn't even bother acknowledging the bounty hunter as he grabs the system's handle and eases it forward. The Lambda shuttle soon vanishes into hyperspace.


End file.
